Adam Levine

Adam Levine

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Background information

Birth name Adam Noah Levine

Born March 18, 1979 (age 34)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Genres

Pop rock, alternative rock, funk rock, neo soul, R&B, pop

Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, actor

Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, drums

Years active 1994–present

Labels

A&M/Octone

Associated acts Maroon 5, Kara's Flowers,Christina Aguilera, Kanye West,Natasha Bedingfield, Alicia Keys, K'naan, Rihanna, Slash,Gym Class Heroes, Lady Antebellum, The Lonely Island

During his late teenage years, Levine co-founded indie pop band Kara's Flowers and was its lead vocalist and guitarist. However, after the commercial failure of the their only album, The Fourth World, the band split up Later, Levine reformed the band and added a fifth member to form Maroon 5. The band has had considerable mainstream success, with all their four studio albums reaching platinum status in the US. Levine has received 3 Grammy Awards, 2 Billboard Music Awards, 2 American Music Awards and an award each at the MTV Video Music Awards and the World Music Awards, all with the band.

Since 2011, Levine has served as a coach on NBC's reality talent show The Voice. The winner of the first season, Javier Colon, was on Levine's team. In 2012, Levine made his acting debut as a recurring character in the horror television show American Horror Story: Asylum, the second season of the series. Levine was also cast in the upcoming film Can a Song Save Your Life?

Levine is also an entrepreneur. In 2013, Levine launched his own eponymous fragrance line. That same year, Levine collaborated with Kmart and ShopYourWay.com to develop and design apparel and accessories collections. Levine also owns a record label, named "222 Records". Further, Levine was also signed as the spokesperson for acne treatment Proactiv. In March 2013, The Hollywood Reporter reported that "sources familiar with his many business dealings" estimated that Levine would earn more than $35 million that year, with NBC paying him $10-12 million for each season of the The Voice.

Early life

Levine was born in Los Angeles to Fred Levine, the founder of retail chain M. Fredric, and Patsy (née Noah) Levine, an admissions-counselor. Journalist and author Timothy Noah is his uncle. He has two siblings, Michael and Julia, and two half-siblings, Eliza and Sam. Levine's parents split when he was seven. Growing up, he spent weekdays with his mother and weekends with this father. Levine attended Brentwood School, where he met Jesse Carmichael and Mickey Madden, his future bandmates. Levine attended French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts Camp(Hancock, NY) with Carmichael.

Levine has Jewish heritage on both sides of his family (his father and maternal grandfather were Jewish) and considers himself Jewish, though, according to The Jewish Chronicle, who interviewed Levine, he "has rejected formal religious practice for a more generalized, spiritual way of life". He chose not to have a Bar Mitzvah as a child, saying: "I felt as though a lot of kids were trying to cash in. They were trying to make a bunch of money, and that's fine. I just don't think it's the most respectful way to deal with God and beliefs and years and years and years of cultural heritage.".

Kara's Flowers

In September 1995, Levine along Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick, another Brentwood High student, formed garage band Kara's Flowers. In 1997, the band was signed on to Reprise Records and, in the same year, released their first album titled The Fourth World. That same year the band appeared on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Despite high expectations, the album had little success, and its only single, "Soap Disco", failed commercially. Later, Levine would say of the band: "Kara’s Flowers was just floating up the wall beneath the sticks. Make a record quickly, put it out. No touring base, no nothing. Just try to make it happen right out of the gate and it just doesn’t work." Disappointed with the results of their album, the band broke up.

Maroon 5 and mainstream success

After the break-up of Kara's Flowers, Levine, along with Carmichael, left Los Angeles for New York.On MTV News, in 2002, Levine said, "That's when I started waking up to the whole hip hop, R&B thing. We had friends named Chaos and shit. It was not Brentwood High." While in New York, Levine worked a two-week stint as a waiter at Johnny Rockets. After dropping out of Five Towns College, Levine and Carmichael reunited with Madden and Dusick to form a band once more, but added former Square guitarist, James Valentine in 2001. Renaming the band Maroon 5, Levine and his friends began to compile all of their newfound musical influences into their music. While Levine was working as a writer's assistant on the television show "Judging Amy", he spent time writing the lyrics about his ex-girlfriend, Jane. Those lyrics became Maroon 5's debut album Songs About Jane, which became a sleeper hit. The band has since gone on to achieve mainstream success and release three further albums, It Won't Be Soon Before Long on May 2007, Hands All Over on September 2010 and Overexposed on June 2012.

Other ventures

In October 2008, Levine collaborated with First Act to create the First Act 222 Guitar, fashioned to Levine's specifications. The guitar was made available for purchase at Target retail stores.

In 2011, Levine launched an educational campaign to raise awareness of Attention

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